Bradley Manning: Kansas move will need close human rights monitoring

Following the announcement that the US soldier accused of leaking documents to the WikiLeaks organisation is being moved to a new detention centre after concerns over his treatment, Amnesty International said that his new confinement will be closely watched by the human rights organisation.

Private Bradley Manning, who is accused of providing documents to WikiLeaks, is being moved from a maximum-security military brig at the Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia to a pre-trial facility in a new, medium-security military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, according to a Pentagon spokesperson.  

While at Quantico he has been detained for 23 hours a day in a small cell, sometimes naked, and forbidden from exercising.  

Amnesty International Americas Director Susan Lee said:

“We hope Bradley Manning’s conditions will significantly improve at Fort Leavenworth, but we will be watching how he is treated very closely.  His conditions at Quantico have been a breach of international standards for humane treatment of an untried prisoner.

“Until this assessment, it is still not possible to know how Bradley Manning is going to be treated, and what restrictions he will be under at the new detention centre.

“Bradley Manning is entitled to be treated humanely and, as an un-convicted prisoner, to the presumption of innocence and to be held under the least restrictive detention conditions possible.

Amnesty International has been raising the unacceptable conditions of Private Manning’s detention conditions with senior US officials throughout the year. Susan Lee added:

“We believe sustained public pressure for the US government to uphold human rights in Bradley Manning’s case has contributed to this move.”